Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1887-06-25
THE MARTINsBURG HERALD, SATURDAY, JUNE 25 1887.

stable to notify the dying widow to
get out Of his shanty because the
rent is not paid, and to justify his
meanness gives it out that her
character was questionable 1t is
the christian who sees his fellow
brothers. wife and children and lit
tie household effects thrown into
the streets, and in search OF a cover
from the storm like the birds and
beasts of the fields, and he passes
them by unmoved! 1t is the christian
who forecloses the mortgage on his
brothers. property, or cheats his
fellow-man out of what is due him,
and joins the splurging throng of
the successful in life. Not all no,
but when it comes down to dollars
and cents religion drives as hard a
bargain as the broker or Spectator.
Religion places premium upon OPP
preston by honoring the rich and
counting their favor. Such things
are not in the Bible, and Christ
preached them not, but they are
part of the unwritten law in theology.
Policy or necessity may have made
them custom and practice, to the
temporal benefit of the church at
the expense of the spiritual. In a
religion without money, salvation
would fall below par, and the infidel
stands upon that as strong ground.
We do not state these facts to the
discredlt of religion, but to show the
necessity of letting the reforms
prayed for and advocated, come
from the church to man, and not
from man to the church. 1t is for
religion to say to the man who OPP
presses the poor and the laborer,
that it is contrary to the Gospel, in
stead of taking him by the hand
and honoring him for the sake Of
worldly advantages. 1t has never
been plain to us that religion is the
friend of the poor. But it is as
plain as the day that the poor are
the friends of religion. BY court
ing earthly distinctions, and wait
ing upon the great; by encourag-
ing and approving wealth and sue
cess by honoring riches no matter
how gained, and setting premium
upon fashion and society by making
with them, the church sanctions
monopolies and extortions, and en-
courages greed, display and dis
honesty and these are the fOunda.
tions upon which rest all the griev-
ances and iniquities that encompass
the labor and social word. Preach.
ing charity towards your neighbor,
obedience to your superiors and
patience and resignation to the will
of your employers, and respect for
the established laws and customs,
will not remedy the evils in this life
nor avert those in the next. Re-
forms can only be accomplished by
getting at the root Of the evil, ex.
posing it to the world, condemning
1t as unjust and unlawful, educating
public opinion to opposition not to
federation, and directing law and
sentiment into higher and healthier
channels. This is what Rev. j.
Talbot Smith and hundreds and
thousands of others are doing, ably
and tearlessly while hundreds and
thousands more are blinded by a
false zeal and q blind attachment to
the powers that be,-afraid of step
ping away from long-beaten paths
unto heretical ground,-afraid of
giving offense to the lords of the
church and the masters of the peo-
pie. For this reason no great
changes for the better come to the
masses except through revolutions
and rebellions. Policy and ex.
pediency are worked in religion as
we'll as in politics for all they are
worth. Those who overleap their
bounds are considered far from wise
in their time, but they are the forces
that move sluggish world for good.
Not that we would set ourselves up
against the church in particular, for
that would be the folly through
which men perish; bnt the tendency
of religion in general is fashionable
and worldly, worshipping more at
the shrine of Success and the foun.
tain of Pride and Greatness than at
the altar of plain Gospel teaching,
where all are one in Christ.